Obama, Romney clash over foreign policy in last debate

Obama, Romney clash over foreign policy in last debate
UCI backs Armstrong ban
Florida college band member gets probation in hazing death
U.S. court-martial delayed for Fort Hood shooting suspect
Rhode Island official resigns over ballot request by child killer
Defense calls witnesses in Ohio Craigslist murder case
Judge questions WTC blame of United in September 11 case
NYPD informant who tracked militants quits, denounces police
U.S. to expand probe of New York City veterans' pensions
Accused mobster Bulger's lawyer wants murder trial delayed again
Obama and Romney meet for final debate as race tightens
"Sickened" UCI strips Armstrong of Tour wins
New York court date in Lindsay Lohan car accident case cancelled
Number of meningitis cases from tainted injections nears 300
Man severely burned in Molotov cocktail attack in Los Angeles suburb
Catholics want more focus on poverty than abortion: survey
Man accused of taking bus for joyride in Washington state
Solyndra bankruptcy plan approved over government objections
FedEx sees holiday shipping volume rising 13 percent
Federal agency to switch to iPhone, drop BlackBerry
Nissan recalls new Altima in U.S. on loose steering bolts
Dominion Wisconsin plant closing due to low natgas prices
Catholics want more focus on poverty than abortion, survey finds
Former Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald joins Skadden
Insight: Is Ohio's "secret" energy boom going bust?
After Libya misfire, pressure on Romney in foreign policy debate
Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. due back at Mayo Clinic for more tests
Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. says he's "starting to heal"
Obama, Romney clash over foreign policy in last debate
Factbox: Quotes from third and last U.S. presidential debate
Factbox: Obama, Romney positions on energy policy
U.S. court-martial delayed for Fort Hood shooting suspect
Defense calls witnesses in Ohio Craigslist murder case
Meningitis probe could hit hospital drug supplies: U.S.
New York court date in Lindsay Lohan car accident case cancelled
Rhode Island official resigns over ballot request by child killer
NYPD informant who tracked militants quits, denounces police

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 07:32 PM PDT

BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clashed over U.S. military strength and how to deal with crises in the Middle East in a third and final debate on Monday as polls showed them in deadlock two weeks before the November 6 election. With one last chance for both men to appeal to millions of voters watching on television, Obama was the aggressor from the start. He criticized the Republican on his proposals on the Middle East, mocking his calls for more ships in the U.S. ...

UCI backs Armstrong ban

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 05:16 PM PDT

GENEVA (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American. The decision effectively destroyed Armstrong's last hope of clearing his name after he was exposed as a drug cheat, triggering a wave of condemnation and legal threats. ...

Florida college band member gets probation in hazing death

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 02:06 PM PDT

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A former Florida A&M University band member was sentenced on Monday to six months of house arrest and two years of probation in the hazing death of college drum major Robert Champion, who was fatally beaten during a marching band ritual last fall. Judge Marc Lubet also ordered Brian Jones, 23, to complete 200 hours of community service and a four-hour hazing class. The judge withheld adjudication, meaning Jones will not have a felony conviction on his record. "I think you're worth saving," Lubet said during the hearing attended by Champion's parents in Orlando. ...

U.S. court-martial delayed for Fort Hood shooting suspect

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:26 PM PDT

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The court-martial of Fort Hood massacre suspect Major Nidal Hasan was postponed indefinitely on Monday by the top appellate court in the U.S. armed forces. Hasan, 42, is charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting rampage at the U.S. Army post in Texas in November 2009. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, in a one-page order, said the court martial will be delayed indefinitely, "pending further review of the court. ...

Rhode Island official resigns over ballot request by child killer

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 03:36 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A convicted child killer's application for an absentee ballot in Rhode Island has led to the resignation of two city officials in Cranston who refused to approve his request. Joseph DeLorenzo, chairman of the Cranston Board of Canvassers, said on Monday he quit after the state Board of Elections warned he could face prosecution for refusing to authorize absentee ballot requests from Michael Woodmansee and two other convicted murderers held at a state psychiatric hospital. Woodmansee pleaded guilty to murder in the 1975 killing and mutilation of 5-year-old Jason Foreman. ...

Defense calls witnesses in Ohio Craigslist murder case

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 04:53 PM PDT

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - The defense for the teen accused of killing three men lured with an ad on Craigslist opened its case on Monday with witnesses who testified the young man was raised without much supervision. Brogan Rafferty, 17, and Richard Beasley, 53, are charged with the murder of three men and the attempted murder of another in a deadly robbery scheme. Closing arguments in the trial, which started in early October, could begin later this week, attorneys said. ...

Judge questions WTC blame of United in September 11 case

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 10:57 AM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday questioned whether United Airlines could be held responsible for suspected airport security lapses that allowed hijackers onto the American Airlines plane that slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Thursday's hearing before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan stems from one of the few remaining lawsuits arising from the hijacked plane attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, and Pennsylvania. ...

NYPD informant who tracked militants quits, denounces police

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 03:15 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An informant recruited by the New York Police Department to collect information on suspected Islamic militants has quit and denounced his police handlers, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case. The informant, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi native, was recruited by the NYPD recently as part of an expansive intelligence-gathering program the department launched after the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. ...

U.S. to expand probe of New York City veterans' pensions

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 02:33 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe into whether New York City unlawfully reduced pension benefits to retired employees who served in the military since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said in a statement on Monday that it was broadening an existing investigation into benefits for police officers to include retirees from any city agency who collect a pension from the city. In August, Preet Bharara, the U.S. ...

Accused mobster Bulger's lawyer wants murder trial delayed again

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 02:23 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Attorneys for accused crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger pleaded for more time on Monday to prepare a defense against charges that he committed or ordered 19 murders in the 1970s and 1980s as the leader of Boston's Winter Hill gang. Defense attorney J.W. Carney told a magistrate court judge in Boston that he planned to file a motion this week requesting additional time to review the evidence that the federal government has amassed against his 83-year-old client. He said it would take the defense team until May to review thousands of pages of evidence. ...

Obama and Romney meet for final debate as race tightens

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 12:59 PM PDT

BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney face off in front of the cameras for a final time on Monday as opinion polls show their battle for the White House has tightened to a dead heat. With 15 days to go until the November 6 election, the two candidates turn to foreign policy for their third and last debate, which starts at 9 p.m. (0100 GMT on Tuesday). The stakes are high. ...

"Sickened" UCI strips Armstrong of Tour wins

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:27 AM PDT

GENEVA (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American. The long-awaited decision has left cycling facing its "greatest crisis" according to UCI president Pat McQuaid and has destroyed Armstrong's last hope of clearing his name. "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. ...

New York court date in Lindsay Lohan car accident case cancelled

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 03:33 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Embattled actress Lindsay Lohan appears to be off the hook after being arrested for leaving the scene of an accident last month when her Porsche allegedly clipped a pedestrian in an alley behind an upscale Manhattan hotel. New York prosecutors said Lohan's scheduled court appearance on Tuesday had been canceled. No future court date was scheduled, an indication the district attorney has decided not to move forward with the case. "Apparently prosecutors agreed that there wasn't enough to proceed." said Lohan's spokesman, Steve Honig. ...

Number of meningitis cases from tainted injections nears 300

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 02:28 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The number of cases of meningitis from tainted injections of a steroid medication reached 294, up 12 from a day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday. There were three other cases of joint infections from the steroid medication that have not resulted in meningitis cases, bringing the national total of infections to 297, according to the CDC. There were no new deaths reported, leaving the total number of fatalities at 23, the CDC said. The number of cases has continued to mount despite recall of the product by New England Compounding Center. ...

Man severely burned in Molotov cocktail attack in Los Angeles suburb

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:02 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police in Long Beach, California, searched on Monday for an unknown assailant who set a man ablaze by tossing a Molotov cocktail at the victim outside a grocery store in a fiery attack caught on videotape. The 54-year-old victim, who was hit with the incendiary device while sitting on a sidewalk outside the market waiting for his father to do his shopping, was listed in critical but stable condition with severe burns to his body, police said. ...

Catholics want more focus on poverty than abortion: survey

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:56 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Most U.S. Catholics think the church should focus more on social justice and helping the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like abortion, according to a poll released Monday by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute. The 2012 American Values Survey finding on Catholics goes against the focus of many U.S. Catholic bishops, who have stressed the church's ban on abortion and artificial contraception in their public policy statements. ...

Man accused of taking bus for joyride in Washington state

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:06 PM PDT

OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - A 22-year-old man accused of hopping into an idling Trailways bus in downtown Spokane on Monday and taking the vehicle on an hourlong joyride was arrested outside of town, police said. There were no passengers on the bus, which apparently had been left unattended with the engine running at the Intermodal Center, Spokane's downtown bus and train station, Spokane police spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe said. About an hour after the vehicle was taken, a witness in the Spokane Valley reported to police seeing a bus that appeared to have been stolen. ...

Solyndra bankruptcy plan approved over government objections

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:21 AM PDT

WILMINGTON, Del (Reuters) - Solyndra, the failed solar panel maker, received court approval on Monday for its plan to repay creditors after a bankruptcy judge overruled objections by the U.S. government. The government, which said it may appeal the ruling, had said the plan improperly provided $341 million in tax breaks to venture capital investors Argonaut Private Equity and Madrone Capital Partners. In approving the company's proposal, U.S. ...

FedEx sees holiday shipping volume rising 13 percent

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 11:26 AM PDT

(Reuters) - FedEx Corp on Monday forecast a 13 percent annual increase in holiday shipping volume, driven by e-commerce and last-minute orders, but stuck to its view of a tepid economy that is pushing customers to pick cheaper shipping options. The company plans to hire 20,000 seasonal workers, the same as last year, when its holiday deliveries rose 10 percent, to handle the more than 280 million shipments it expects during the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. ...

Federal agency to switch to iPhone, drop BlackBerry

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 02:31 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said it will end its contract with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd in favor of Apple Inc's iPhone, dealing a new blow to RIM just months before it launches a vital new device. The agency said in a solicitation document posted last week that it intends to buy iPhones for more than 17,600 employees - a purchase worth $2.1 million. The agency said it has relied on RIM for eight years, but the company "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency. ...

Nissan recalls new Altima in U.S. on loose steering bolts

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:06 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co is recalling 13,919 of its top-selling Altima sedans in the United States because bolts that may not have been tightened properly during production could fall off, increasing the risk of a crash, according to U.S. safety regulators. The Altima sedans are from the 2012 and 2013 model years and were made at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, from May 10 to July 26, Nissan North America told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ...

Dominion Wisconsin plant closing due to low natgas prices

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:42 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Dominion Resources Inc plans to shut its Kewaunee plant in Wisconsin in the second quarter of 2013, the first U.S. nuclear plant to fall victim to the steep drop in power prices as rising natural gas production redefines U.S. power markets. Virginia-based Dominion said on Monday it intends to take a third-quarter after-tax charge of $281 million to decommission the 566-megawatt plant, which will close in the second quarter of 2013. Dominion shares fell 1.2 percent to $52.87 in late-morning trade. ...

Catholics want more focus on poverty than abortion, survey finds

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:56 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Most U.S. Catholics believe the church should focus more on social justice and the obligation to support the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like abortion, according to a new poll released Monday by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute. The 2012 American Values Survey finding on Catholics goes against the focus of many U.S. Catholic bishops, who have been stressing the church's ban on abortion and artificial contraception in public policy statements. ...

Former Chicago prosecutor Fitzgerald joins Skadden

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:22 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. attorney in Chicago whose high-profile prosecutions have included corruption cases against two consecutive Illinois governors, is joining law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Fitzgerald stepped down from the U.S. Attorney's office in June after an 11-year tenure. His move to Skadden as a partner in Chicago is part of a recent surge in the firm's recruiting efforts to hire top government attorneys and partners from competitor firms. ...

Insight: Is Ohio's "secret" energy boom going bust?

Posted: 21 Oct 2012 10:03 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of wells drilled this year across rural Ohio are quietly pumping out the answer to the U.S. energy industry's most loaded question: Is the Utica shale formation, touted as a potentially $500 billion frontier, a boom or a bust? Yet the answer is likely to remain concealed for some time. ...

After Libya misfire, pressure on Romney in foreign policy debate

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:18 AM PDT

BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney face off on Monday in their third and final debate, it will be the Republican challenger's last best chance to recover from his botched "Libya moment" and exploit vulnerabilities in his opponent's foreign policy record. But Romney has an uphill struggle to make his case against Obama, who will be buoyed by the advantages of incumbency as well as polls showing him with an edge - though a shrinking one - on the question of who is more trusted in global affairs. ...

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. due back at Mayo Clinic for more tests

Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:21 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Embattled U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who is being treated for bipolar disorder, will return to the Mayo Clinic this week for a re-evaluation by his doctors, his father, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, said on Sunday. The civil rights leader and former presidential candidate did not give a specific day when his son, a nine-term Illinois Democrat, would return to the clinic, or say whether he would be re-admitted to the facility. "That has not yet been determined. ...

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. says he's "starting to heal"

Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:22 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who has been undergoing medical treatment for four months, told constituents in a recorded message Saturday he is "starting to heal" and "anxious to return to work," according to a Chicago radio station. It was the Democrat's first public statement since going on medical leave in June. His office has said he has been treated for bipolar disorder. Jackson, first elected to the House in 1995, is favored to be re-elected on November 6 in his heavily Democratic district in the Chicago area. ...

Obama, Romney clash over foreign policy in last debate

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 07:32 PM PDT

Factbox: Quotes from third and last U.S. presidential debate

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 07:17 PM PDT

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney met on Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, for the third and last presidential debate, focused on foreign policy, ahead of the November 6 election. Below are some highlights of what the two candidates said. ON IRAN: Obama: "There have been times, Governor, frankly, during the course of this where it sounded like you thought that you'd do the same things we did but you'd say them louder and somehow that would make a difference. ...

Factbox: Obama, Romney positions on energy policy

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:53 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have vastly different strategies on how to regulate the newfound energy bounty as well as how to slash the country's dependency on oil imports. The two candidates will meet Monday night for their third and final debate ahead of the November 6 presidential election. While energy may not be in the forefront of the debate, which is slated to focus on foreign policy, the fight over the long-delayed Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline will likely merit a mention. ...

U.S. court-martial delayed for Fort Hood shooting suspect

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:26 PM PDT

Defense calls witnesses in Ohio Craigslist murder case

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 04:53 PM PDT

Meningitis probe could hit hospital drug supplies: U.S.

Posted: 22 Oct 2012 04:46 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The extended shutdown of a sister company of the pharmacy at the center of the deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak may exacerbate drug shortages for some hospitals and healthcare providers as the number of infection cases neared 300, U.S. health regulators said. Ameridose, a drug manufacturer owned by the same people who own New England Compounding Center, or NECC, has been closed since October 10. It will remain shuttered until November 5 while authorities inspect the plant, at least temporarily cutting off supplies to its customers. ...